Prayer Guide: Day 11

Do you know how many words the average person speaks every single day? According to research, it’s 7,000. SEVEN THOUSAND! For some, that number may be way too low (do you have a chatty spouse?). For others, it may take months to speak that many words. Regardless, it’s incredible to think that we speak 7,000 words every single day. What do you accomplish with the words that you speak? Are they used for self-promotion or to get what you want? In Psalm 145, King David begins by telling us what to do when we speak:

I will exalt you, my God and King,

And praise your name forever and ever.

I will praise you every day;

Yes, I will praise you forever.

Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!

No one can measure his greatness.

Psalm 145:1-3

What are we to do? Praise his name! David tells us that our words have a purpose. It’s to praise. Not praise just anything or anyone. We are to praise the Lord. Declare His goodness. Exalt Him because He is worthy of everything we have. Of the 7,000 words that you speak every day, how many of them are used to declare God’s goodness? How many words do we use to communicate to God how faithful He is, how thankful we are, and how much we love Him? Whether through words we sing or words we utter in prayer, there is power when we communicate to God how much we love and need Him! So, David uses Psalm 145 to tell us what to do. He then uses Psalm 146 to tell us how to do it:

Praise the Lord!

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

I will praise the Lord as long as I live.

I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

Psalm 146:1-3

What should my words do? Praise His name. How should I do it? With all that I am! Not half-heartedly. Not just when things are going well. Not in the moments when we feel like doing it. David tells us to praise the Lord with all that we have! To use as many words as we can muster to cry out to God, petition God, worship God, apologize to God, or whatever else we may need to do in a given moment. Why? Because God is worthy of it, but also because it’s what God desires from us. He doesn’t want us to hold anything back from Him. He wants us to communicate our thoughts, feelings, and desires. He already knows them anyway, and He invites us to use the words that He gives us to declare our love and need for Him, whether it’s 7,000 or 700,000!

Personal Prayer Focus

As you pray today, think of things for which you can praise Him. Spend some time thanking God for the good things He’s given you, from small, seemingly insignificant things to big, answered prayers. Even in a tough season, there is so much to thank Him for… clean water, indoor plumbing, our cars, homes, jobs, families, and good health. Beyond all of the earthly gifts He’s given us, we can praise Him for loving us and sending Jesus to atone for our sins and give us an eternal promise of salvation.

West Ridge Church Prayer Focus

Today let’s pray for the Guest Services and Assimilations Ministries of our church. Each week people come as guests to attend our worship services. Our hope is that each one finds the truth of Christ and will be inspired to engage in the life of our church. Let’s pray this continues to happen more and more! Pray for our Guest Services Assimilation staff (Christie Meldrim, Belinda Maloy, Carla Davis, and Toni Campbell) as well as our awesome Assimilations and Guest Services Ministry Teams!